{"id":2998,"date":"2019-11-08T16:16:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T21:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/?p=2998"},"modified":"2023-10-16T16:29:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T20:29:05","slug":"americans-dont-understand-communisms-dangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/nl\/2019\/11\/08\/americans-dont-understand-communisms-dangers\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Years after the Berlin Wall\u2019s Collapse, Americans Don\u2019t Understand Communism\u2019s Dangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a reason why after a great tragedy we are called to never forget. Humanity has a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

EXCERPT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What a difference three decades make. When the Berlin Wall<\/a> was torn down on November 9, 1989<\/a>, it symbolized the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the liberation of more than 300 million people<\/a> from the tyrannical grip of communism. We in the west celebrated the start of a new era of democracy and freedom, one we were told was possibly endless. Yet a mere 30 years later, communist parties are gaining ground, and the free world is literally shrinking \u2014 in size and spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freedom\u2019s retreat is evident from Asia to Africa to South America and even closer to home. Across the Pacific, the Chinese Communist Party is pursuing a policy of oppression at home and aggression abroad, cracking down on Hong Kong\u2019s liberty and seeking to create satellites from\u00a0Nepal<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Djibouti<\/a>. North Korea is threatening free South Korea and Japan and, with China\u2019s protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggle against communism is the most successful human-rights movement in history, yet it is far from over. The collapse of the Soviet Union liberated roughly a fifth\u00a0of the\u00a0one-and-a-half billion people<\/a>\u00a0who suffered under communist rule.\u00a0Thirty years later, the communist parties in power are still the most oppressive force on Earth, and\u00a0this problem is only growing worse. The sooner we remember the lessons of 1989, the sooner we\u2019ll finish the work that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the time of publishing, Marion Smith was executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Originally published <\/em>in USA Today<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The struggle against communism is the most successful human-rights movement in history, yet it is far from over. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-op-ed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n30 Years after the Berlin Wall\u2019s Collapse, Americans Don\u2019t Understand Communism\u2019s Dangers - Common Sense Society<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The struggle against communism is the most successful human-rights movement in history, yet it is far from over.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/nl\/2019\/11\/08\/americans-dont-understand-communisms-dangers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"nl_NL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"30 Years after the Berlin Wall\u2019s Collapse, Americans Don\u2019t Understand Communism\u2019s Dangers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The struggle against communism is the most successful human-rights movement in history, yet it is far from over.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/nl\/2019\/11\/08\/americans-dont-understand-communisms-dangers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Sense Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-08T21:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-16T20:29:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/11.8.19-Smith-USA-Today.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"30 Years after the Berlin Wall\u2019s Collapse, Americans Don\u2019t Understand Communism\u2019s Dangers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The struggle against communism is the most successful human-rights movement in history, yet it is far from over.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/11.8.19-Smith-USA-Today.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Geschreven door\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mana\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Verwachte leestijd\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minuut\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/2019\/11\/08\/americans-dont-understand-communisms-dangers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commonsensesociety.org\/2019\/11\/08\/americans-dont-understand-communisms-dangers\/\",\"name\":\"30 Years after the Berlin Wall\u2019s Collapse, Americans Don\u2019t Understand Communism\u2019s Dangers - 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